Unpopular Opinion: 

I rather dislike OT12 (the usual pairings, not the slightly different ones with suchen or kray and stuff) fics that are romance, because half the time I just can't see the pairings created. Yeah, I'll read a good ChenMin fic every once in a while, but I don't readily ship it like I do SuChen.

SuLay is beyond me because they barely have any moments and are usually the 'leftover' pair, which makes no sense, because there are probably more XiuLay moments than SuLay, so I don't know where people ship them.  

Then there is BaekYeol and the only time I ship them is OT3 style with Chen, because I'm more of a BaekChen shipper than I am BaekYeol. (I think BaekYeol was something created because Chen and Baekhyun were in different groups and Baekhyun got really close to Chanyeol because of it. And even though they are all same age friends, I believe that Baekhyun and Chen are quite close and understand each other a bit better than Baekhyun and Chanyeol: as the former two are main singers, have similar training periods, and similar mindsets to how they view some of their time with EXO). But that's a really unpopular opinion because everyone loves BaekYeol, while I just don't. OT3 fics I'll read easily, but I haven't really read any BaekYeol fics that really hit close to home for me and actually make me want to ship them together.  Yeah, they have some cute moments, but there is no spark there for me to readily ship the two.  I may be alone in this thought, but that's okay, I guess I'll always be a er for rare ships more than mainstream.

HunHan's okay, but the characterization of Luhan is usually less than desired for me because a lot of people write him as this weak, womanly person, when he's quite a dominant type of person and is actually quite manly despite his cute looks.  

TaoRis I get and I'll read on occasion, but even then, the characterizations aren't that great all the time either. I've read good and bad fics, but nothing really outstanding.  

KaiSoo I readily ship, even though I think my first EXO-K ship was actually SuDo.  It made no sense to me that people would ship Kai and Kyungsoo together, especially since Suho and DO were respectively known as EXO-K's dad and mom figures, so when all the fics were KaiSoo, I definitley scratched my head. But after seeing their interactions, I definitely was able to see the two easily together and ship them. 

ChenMin's cute and all, but it is a pairing that's not a favorite of mine. However, I have read some decent fic about them, but sometimes the characterization is lacking a bit too.  

However, the one thing I did notice about OT12 fics is even though they are supposed to showcase each pairing equally, HunHan, BaekYeol, and KaiSoo are usually more of the dominant written pairings in these fics than ChenMin and SuLay.  Which is sad, because the latter are just as good to write about.  And somehow, it just reinstates that the latter are the less popular members of the group too. Which if you look at who's in these two pairings, they are definitely the less popular members of EXO.  So another reason why I dislike OT12 fics sometimes.  

And the characterization for these fics can be lame. I'm not saying these fics are bad, but there is definitely more to Chen than just being a troll. He's actually a very interesting character because even though he likes to have fun and prank members, he's actually quite a serious person too, because he's a perfectionist that has some slight OCD tendencies. If you look at what he does, how he speaks about music, and how much effort he puts into his craft and the things he needs to improve on, he spends a lot of time practicing to make sure he sounds better. And yet, a lot of OT12 fics don't capture this more serious and mature side to him.

Or take Suho as another example. Everyone sees him as the gentle grandpa, but he is a leader for a reason (besides being the oldest and most experienced member).  He can lay down the law when needed to deal with the other members of the band when it comes to punshiment and stuff like that.  Which I know are things we don't usually see, but leaders (good ones, and I do see Suho as a good leader) have to have a balance too. So being characterized as the gentle grandpa can be fun to write, but it feels as if a lot of writers are forgetting or not taking note that there is more to Suho than just being a gentle guy.

And Lay, don't even get me started on him. Everyone makes him out to to be this stupid, idiot who can't remember anything. Which is really selling the boy short, because even if he does have trouble remembering stuff, it isn't who he is and it shouldn't define him. Lay's very talented, smart, and a mature person. Just look at his mannerisms during interviews, how he's very gentle and respectful to the staff, MCs, his brothers from EXO, etc.. or the fact that he practices even while injured or likes to write music and play the guitar. These are things that are a part of him, so why does everyone want to write him as an idiot? I know it's for laughs, but really, does he always have to be labeled as the 'Unicorn who can't remember ?' 

It just seems to me that a lot of authors take one trait and run with it, even though these people have many traits that create them that would be interesting to write or show to the audience. One trait doesn't define anyone, real life person or character. 

Take Adam Levine from Maroon 5 for example. He has ADHD and yet, he works through it to do his job.  He doesn't let is define him as the singer that has ADHD, but the guy who gives it his all and then some to combat that part of himself.  So why should one trait define each member of EXO?

For comedy?  For laughs?  For what?

Because if you actually take a moment to think about it, these characters created using one-two traits are actually poorly constructed characters.  They're very one dimensional and usually don't need any character growth.  They're the same from the beginning to the end of the fic, and yeah, one may be focusing on the comedy aspect of their characters, but what comedy movie or book used complete cookie cutter characters? 

Many comedy movies/shows don't use one dimensional characters, but three dimensional. Becase even if they are trying to get the comedic factor out of them, there is always some sort of backstory and reason why to how these characters act.  Some have bad parents (Take Sam from ICarly, it's obvious that her mother's on drugs or may possibly be an alcoholic, her father is absent and doesn't really care how Sam or her mother are doing, and that she lives with a single mom. And yet, she's a character that drives the comedy moments on the show.). Some have parents that let them get away with anything they want (Take the Hangover for example, Alan is a comedic character because in a way, even though he's had a good life, he's also had an emotionally damaging life too. His parents either did everything for him or bought him what he wanted, so he never learned how to be responsible. His parents take the fall for whenever he does anything bad and don't punish him, thus letting him think he can get away with anything. And so on. Again, Alan is one of the characters that drives the comedy for these movies.) Etc...

So why does everyone write them the same way as everyone else?

I know many people gain inspiration from other fics when they write OT12, especially fics like 'Office Antics.'  But to me, there is this slight disconnect whenever I read. I can't get into the characters and yeah, these reads are usually more 'fun' and easy, but it just feels like many have the same concepts and characterizations.  

Maybe I'll forever have this unpopular opinion towards these fics.  Maybe I'll never be able to see eye to eye on some of these pairings and how people characterize these guys.  

Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way, because many times I do, at least when it's romantic OT12 fics.

But if it's not and it's brotherhood/friendship OT12 fics, then I'm all for them, because it's nice to see the boys actually be friends with each other than fall in love and have with each other. However, not many write brotherhood/friendship fics, so those are hard to come by. And the non-usual OT12 fics are hard to come by too.  

So I don't really know what else to say or how to even conclude this weird rant, but I guess I just had to get this off my chest.  So any thoughts on the matter?